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Breaking Up is Hard To Do:  ACT, SAT, and an Entrance Exam Love Triangle in the Mitten State

1/8/2015

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Alright everybody, DEEP BREATH…nobody panic.  Yes, the love affair between the ACT and the MDE (MI Dept. of Education) is coming to an end.  And Yes, after March 3rd, the union between Michigan High Schools and the annual March ACT is headed for Splitsville.  And Yes, the MDE decided to replace the March ACT with the “New” SAT beginning in 2016 (See Michigan Department of Education Press Release).

However, for parents and students, all this means is that there will no longer be a free ACT given to students at Michigan high schools in the first week of March in the spring of Junior year.  Instead, students will have to take the ACT on a Saturday morning in September, October, December, February, April, or June throughout the year as most other students across the country do. See ACT Test Dates here.

The main reason NOT to panic is that this change has little to no impact on getting into college.  The ACT will still be as important and meaningful for high school juniors as ever.  Meaning, its primary purpose is for college entrance and scholarship opportunities for individual students (not for use in high school rankings and state evaluations/report cards.)  What the MDE decided in terms of policy change should not affect how colleges and universities use a student’s ACT score. Currently, nearly every college in the country will accept the ACT and will continue to do so in perpetuity regardless of what the State of Michigan does at the high school level. 

Every college and university that a student will apply to will still accept the ACT. Let me re-emphasize, the only thing that has really changed is that the ACT will no longer be given at school the first week of March.  Therefore, colleges and universities in MICHIGAN, and Indiana, and Illinois, and Ohio (and all other 46 states) will continue to use ACT scores to determine admission and scholarship money (just as every college in the country will also use SAT scores for the same purpose). 

The ACT has never been more popular nationwide in terms of using it as the standardized test for college entry.  In fact, more American students now take the ACT than the SAT (see Washington Post article), and many of those students reside in states that do not offer the opportunity to take a free test during the school day at their high schools.

The beauty of this bicameral college entrance exam system lies in the fact that students can take two completely different tests to help them earn a score that could unlock a door to admission at a desired college.  College bound students should take BOTH the ACT & the SAT and figure out which test they can score higher on, based on the conversion scale called the ACT/SAT Concordance. Nearly every college evaluates a student's admission on whichever test score is higher, whether it be ACT or SAT.

But, when a state like Michigan only promotes one test, on one given test date per year, it can give parents and students the false impression that only one test on one single day in March is the only one that matters.  In fact, I’ve already had multiple parents of students (currently or formerly enrolled in my ACT Prep Courses) contact me concerned because they believe that Michigan colleges aren’t going to accept the ACT anymore.  I don’t think I can emphasize this enough – the belief that the ACT is no longer relevant or useful in the state of Michigan couldn’t be further from the truth. 

In terms of the SAT, or the “New” SAT, starting in 2016, the state has simply decided to replace its free ACT test given in March at school with a free SAT test given at school as part of the standardized testing for the Michigan Merit Curriculum or M-Step. 

With regard to the SAT, the College Board will continue to give the current version of the SAT through 2015.  So, if you are currently studying to take it and/or currently a junior, keep practicing the SAT in its current form.  If you are planning on taking the SAT in 2016 or after, then you will need to wait until the College Board releases all of the relevant information (including full practice tests) regarding the new SAT 2016 format.  In an upcoming blog, I will discuss in detail what we know (so far) about the changes ahead for the new SAT.  It is expected that this fall’s PSAT, given in October, will be the first formal test given in the new format. 

The changes in the SAT and the comparison between the SAT and ACT (and how colleges interpret those scores) will be just a few of the topics discussed in greater detail as part of my College Prep for Parents Webinar scheduled for March 15.  If you have questions about the tests or about college preparation, including the college application process, you would find it beneficial to enroll in this important Webinar. 

For more information about my ACT and SAT prep courses (both in-person and in webinar format), visit www.drcarlinstestprep.com. And, as always, check out our free College Prep Trail Guide for downloadable guides, helpful article links, and guideposts from 8-12 grade to ensure that your student is college ready. 

In the meantime, let’s allow broken hearts to heal and try our best to rise above the gossip.  The SAT may be in a new relationship with the Great Lake State, but the ACT will no doubt rebound quickly.
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FIVE MYTHS ABOUT THE ACT

12/18/2014

2 Comments

 
Myth #1 - High GPA = High ACT

One of the biggest mistakes parents and students make regarding their approach to the ACT is assuming that success in school equates to success on the ACT.  In a word… “NO.”  By no means is this an indictment of high schools or teachers (my wife teaches high school),  but the content and format of the ACT do not mimic what most high school students do in school.  The ACT is a test that you absolutely can and need to prepare for in a systematic way to maximize your highest potential score.

The single most common phone call or email I receive from parents involves their disbelief of their student’s score on the ACT.  Typically, the next line that follows is some version of, “Dr. Carlin, my son/daughter does SO WELL in school, I don’t understand how he/she could receive that score on the ACT.”  High School grades are important in the college application process, no doubt.  However, at the same time, grades in school do not equate to an ACT skill set or knowledge base.  The ACT website uses language to make students/parents believe that it should be a direct correlation.  However, if that were the case, every perfect 4.0 student should score well into the 30s on the ACT (which is far from the case).

Myth #2 - Do Not Guess

Even students who have taken both the SAT and ACT multiple times have trouble keeping this straight.  On the SAT, there is a penalty for wrong answers, as the College Board takes a quarter (-1/4) of a point off for any question answered incorrectly.  Right answers on the SAT and PSAT count as a “+1” and answers left blank count for “0.”  Therefore, on the SAT, it is not in a student’s best interest to randomly guess on questions they do not know (as they have only a 1/5 chance of guessing correctly).

That being said, however, on the ACT students should NEVER leave a question blank.  The ACT only scores by counting CORRECT answers (each worth a “+1”) and everything else (whether wrong or left blank) count the same (“0”).  Even if you are running out of time with no chance to read the question, you should still put an answer down.  On the ACT, you have a 1 out of 4 chance of answering correctly (except for the Math Test, which is 1 out of 5), so there is always a chance of banking one more (+1) with no penalty.

So, by the end of the test, never leave anything blank.  One more right answer can mean an entire ACT section point (sometimes two points) higher on a given section of the test.

Myth #3 - ACT Science Test Is All About Science

I would argue that one could re-write 2/3 of the ACT Science test about something other than science and still create the same graphs and tables and test the same skills. Of the Seven Question Types found on the ACT Science Test, only two are truly Science specific.  We could re-write the tables, charts, and graphs using data about stock market trends, fantasy football statistics, or former Oscar winners and still not change the format of questions or skills tested. 

Instead, much of the Science Test is about maximizing efficiency and understanding crucial interpretive skills such as understanding correlation, reading X/Y axis graphs, understanding tables and using deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills.  Do not get me wrong, science knowledge can certainly help students on the ACT Science, but it is not a straight test of how much Biology, Physics, Environmental Science and Chemistry (science studied in high school) a student knows.

Myth #4 - Great Readers Will Crush the ACT Reading Test

Unfortunately, reading the greatest 100 novels ever written in English (or any language actually) will not necessarily better prepare a student for the ACT Reading Test.  Actually, they should call this test, “Passage Hunt” as it is more a representation of finding specific answers within a written passage than necessarily maximizing one’s understanding of a passage in its entirety.  Granted, the best high school readers can read a passage and fully understand most of what they read.  However, they still may have difficulty against the clock because they are busy trying to soak up every detail of the passage (as good readers should), when there are only 10 things that are absolutely crucial to the passage.  ACT Reading is more about finding evidence to support 10 correct answers before 8 min and 45 seconds on the clock tick away.  Knowing how the ACT structures its reading questions and understanding the different question types found on the Reading Test can make all the difference.  That knowledge combined with understanding how to optimize a student’s reading time/efficiency are the keys to unlocking a high ACT Reading score.

Myth #5 - You Cannot Practice for the ACT

Whether it was in the classroom preparing for a speech or debate or on the tennis courts preparing for a match, Coach Bender always preached to us “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”

 These proverbial “5 Ps” could really be boiled down to just one--PRACTICE.

 The critical component in improving ACT scores is familiarity with the test on the individual question level.  That only comes through PRACTICE.  Regardless of popular opinion, just "being in school" does not provide the practice necessary to really improve an ACT performance.  

 The best practice comes by doing live time, ACT tests with a professional instructor who can break down the test on a section by section, question by question basis.  This includes merging CONTENT with STRATEGY and using them as a foundation to attack each question with a specific game plan in hand.

 According to the ACT's statistics (ACT.org) 57% of last year's students improved their composite score (overall score) the second time they took the ACT.  

 By comparison, over the past four years, greater than 97% of students who have worked consistently with Dr. Carlin (individually) on the ACT have improved their scores.  There is no substitution for improving at the ACT than working at the test specifically in live time with someone who truly knows the ins and outs of the test on every level. 

Prepare Properly and Prevent a Poor Performance the second time around on the ACT.  So, In a word…PRACTICE.

 
For more information about Dr. Carlin’s new ACT Workshop Webinar Series, see  drcarlinstestprep.com 
For more information about In Person ACT Prep Courses in your area, see  michianatestprep.com
 
If you have additional questions, you can always contact Dr. Carlin at 517-803-5037 or email michianatestprep@gmail.com

2 Comments

ACT Workshop Webinars in January and February

12/9/2014

2 Comments

 
2 Comments

    Author

    Dr. Scott Carlin, Ph.D. is a professional test prep service provider and college consultant with decades of tutoring and consulting experience. He specializes in online webinar format courses to provide live instruction to students and parents throughout the country on a wide variety of college readiness topics including: ACT and SAT Prep, College Prep for Parents, and Survival Strategies for College Students. He also offers a College Prep Trail Guide: a free resource for parents and students. He lives in Buchanan, Michigan with his wife Stacey and three children.

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